Wednesday we took the boys for their 4 year old well checks. Donna took the day off to meet the new doctor & help wrangle the boys. Thank goodness, because even though the boys don't bounce off the walls like they use too their anxiety was high & the foreign (to them) protocol of the new office threw them for a loop.
I started talking about their upcoming well check & the shots they would be getting a while ago. We watched some programs that dealt with the subject & hoped that knowing what to expect would keep them from freaking out when the time came. Well the morning of their appt Garren immediately started asking about the shots which turned into insisting he wasn't getting shots. That escalated into him insisting we tell him he wasn't getting shots & once we arrived he told the receptionist he wasn't going to be getting any shots, lol... He's a persistent little booger!
When the nurses called us back they each announced who was with them. What?! They were separating the boys & we were totally confused! It turned out it was just for their vitals, vision & hearing screens but it still caused the boys some anxiety. Caden & Donna went one way & Kellan, Garren & I went another. Kellan was up first, he was weighed & measured & then had his blood pressure read... Well that was the beginning of the end for Kellan. He said the cuff was hurting him & when the nurse wouldn't take it off he lost it. He got really scared & started crying, the nurse tried to calm him but didn't turn off the machine or take the cuff off so he just got worse. He was so upset by the time she gave in that he couldn't do his vision or hearing tests.
In the midst of Kellan's breakdown Donna & Caden emerged from their corner of the office. Kellan wanted Donna so she took him & I went with Caden to do his vision test which he lost interest in halfway through because he wanted to help Kellan.
Garren apparently did all of his stuff without incident. Maybe he though he could behave his way out of getting shots? lol
From there we all headed into an exam room. The nurse that started out with Caden joined us in the exam room & the scary nurse went on to help someone else. Kellan started to calm down but was still crying with the occasional screech. The nurse did her thing & left giving the boys all a break for a few minutes before the doctor came in.
The doctor was awesome! She talked to the boys, asking them the questions. She looked for superheroes in their ears & mouth & she checked them for bionic knees ;) Kellan really liked that & he even got to play with the doctor's stethoscope, Garren did too. The boys are all big & healthy. They are right on track developmentally & even ahead in some areas. I asked her opinion on my plan for Caden & Kellan's speech. She said she wouldn't have even known they had had a delay if it wasn't for me mentioning it. She agreed 100% with my plan of just letting them start VPK & then see if they still need to work on language skills. They all answered & interacted with her well & she feels that a social setting would be the best place for them to continue learning language skills. She also said the teachers at that level are trained & know to watch for any kind of delays. So I feel good about our decision to stop therapy, give the boys a break & wait until they start school to see if they need anymore help.
Their stats are:
Garren 35lbs & 41.25" tall, 42nd & 65th percentiles. He passed both his hearing & vision screens.
Kellan 40lbs & 42" tall, 84th & 79th percentiles. He didn't complete his hearing or vision screen & will have to do them next year.
Caden 41lbs & 43" tall, 88th & 92nd percentiles. H passed his hearing screen but didn't complete his vision screen, so he will do it again next year.
They've slowed down quite a bit this past year with growth only growing about an inch each & gaining 5-ish pounds. I'm definitely not complaining though! :)
Once the exams were done it was in fact shot time. The doctor suggested taking each of the boys one by one to another room for their shots (just 2, that's all I like to do at one time with 3 kids.) we agreed it was a great idea. Caden volunteered to go first, he came back upset but just wanted his band aid off. He was fine after that with the help of some smarties candies. Kellan went next & in typical Kellan fashion, he sobbed like a baby. He's such a sensitive little guy. Garren heard Kellan cry & asked what was going on, before the doctor or I could answer he stomped his foot & in a very stern tone stated "I am not getting a shot!" Donna came in & gave me Kellan & grabbed Garren who was 100% pissed off & yelling by then! Donna said the nurse heard him coming & nailed him as they came in the room so he never even saw the shots coming. He came back saying his shots didn't hurt, lol...
We went straight from the doctor's office to Krispy Kreme for bumble bee donuts to make the whole ordeal all better. It worked like a charm. Kellan whimpered about his arm hurting every so often & by dinnertime Garren was complaining about his arm hurting. Garren actually woke up crying shortly after falling asleep saying his arm hurt. He moved to our room & slept restlessly through the night. The boys were all a little puny the next day but that was it, no fevers or other reactions luckily :)
Next year I think we will make individual appts & take the boys one by one. The appt was very involved this time around & just a bit too much x3. Caden & Kellan will both have to do their eye exams next year & Kellan will have to have his hearing screen as well. All 3 will have to get the remaining vaccines for kindergarten too, I think there are 2 left, but maybe its just 1?
We had already been to the new office a few weeks ago for a constipation issue but we didn't see who we thought would be the boys primary doctor. We had a great experience that day & are very VERY happy with our new pediatric group. I think Donna & I actually preferred the first doctor we saw, she was super sweet & took her time explaining things to us, she acknowledged Donna & even asked her a little about her history. She was also super good with Garren, he was leaning up against her by the end of the appt & even gave her hug. Not too bad for a butt & belly exam, lol. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the other doctor either! She was just as nice & she has 2 sets of twins. I was really looking forward to her insight since her kids are high school & college aged now. I did a lot of research & sought out references before deciding on this pediatric group. I really don't think we'll run across a doctor here that we won't like. I also love that they are super easy to get ahold of & they have a doctor designated to sick visits each day (at each office) so there's never an issue getting in when someone is sick. They even have sick visits on the weekend & have a 24 hour nurse line in addition to their online resources on their website. They also have a scheduling coordinator that handles appts for multiples, how cool is that?! She was the reason we were able to get in so quickly & didn't have to wait on the new patient appt list which I was told was about a 3 month wait. Hooray for multiples!!! lol... So far we are happy happy moms with the new place.
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